Rosie to Taboo audience: 'I promise you this show will be back'

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There was no need to turn around and see why a spontaneous standing ovation had begun from the back of the orchestra seats, minutes before the start of Taboo's final performance. Rosie O'Donnell, the show's co-producer, sole backer and star promoter, was making her way to row G, seat 114, shaking hands and signing Playbills along the way.

"I only have two things to say...", she yelled above the appreciative crowd. "Number one: Thank you to everyone who's here." Hundreds responded with "Thank you, Rosie!" "Number two: Register to vote so we can have a different president --" The cheer that had erupted drowned out any continuation of that sentence. She then tacked on another; "Number three: Never say die. I promise you this show will be back."

With that hugs were thrown around her neck as flash cameras snapped furiously. She was still signing a teenage girl's Taboo t-shirt as the house lights faded to dark.

But the buzz was already in full swing even before the doors opened for Sunday night's festivities. As with many flop musicals, especially those that have run long enough to cultivate a fan base, final performances are hot tickets and the sold-out crowd was packed with fans who had seen the show multiple times. Older playgoers were dressed in full "freak' ensembles, including a Leigh Bowery look-alike happily displaying himself from the front row, while the younger ones, many of them teenage girls who appeared to be attending with parents, went no further than dashes of face glitter and the occasional touch of neon hair dye. Friends yelled greetings to friends from the balcony to the orchestra and so many cameras flashed that ushers were frequently heard loudly warning that they were not permitted. (Act I was lit so often by camera flashes that a loud cheer came up from the crowd after the intermission announcement that "the cast asks you refrain from taking flash pictures.")

Raul Esparza's opening entrance as Philip Sallon, the narrator -- much like Jeff McCarthy's entrance as Urinetown's narrator at that show's final performance just three weeks ago -- was greeted with shrieking cheers so loud and long that Esparza had fun false starting once or twice, just to see if they could last. The sound was repeated moments later at the entrance of Esparza's co-narrator, Liz McCartney as Big Sue (Echoing the reaction to Spencer Kayden's entrance as the co-narrating Little Sally, three weeks earlier.) As expected on such occasions, each actor's first entrance was met with loving cheers, often repeated for Mike Nicholls, Bobby Pearce and Christine Bateman's costume, hair and makeup designs.

And also as expected at the final performance of a show that disregards the fourth wall so often, a few liberties were taken. Liz McCartney received a big laugh when, after her scripted line explaining how her character worked for an employment agency, she ad-libbed "Ironic, isn't it?" Boy George, as Leigh Bowery, took the opportunity during his time alone on stage midway through "Ich Bin Kunst" to joke "Janet Jackson, get a hold of yourself! All that fuss about a pair of boobs?" Then turning serous and completely out of character, he thanked the crowd and declared "It's been fantastic! Truly. Every moment has been a magical one. Sometimes, through all the drama you forget." He then pointed to his producer, his battles with her being well-documented by the press, and announced "I'd like to thank Rosie for bringing me here." At the number's close he made a final shout out of "And of course the cast and crew. God bless them all. They're fantastic!"

Although there were no more speeches from Rosie O'Donnell after her pre-show announcement, her presence was still a large part of the evening. At Boy George's first entrance, she immediately sprang to her feet for a standing ovation and it seemed everyone who noticed her do so followed suit, with most of those sitting in front of her remaining in their seats. When Liz McCartney hit her money notes in "Talk Amongst Yourselves", Rosie stood up with her arms outstretched, as though giving her a hug, and during Raul Esparza's solo "Petrified" she could be seen putting her hand to her eyes as if wiping away tears.

For a show that celebrated non-conformity and the desire to be looked upon as a freak, the Broadway version of Taboo was in many ways an old-fashioned musical comedy, utilizing traditional structure and a score that created empathy for the characters. Though it attracted many people who normally wouldn't attend Broadway musicals, in both writing and execution Taboo resembled My Fair Lady or South Pacific far more than it resembled Hair or Jesus Christ, Superstar, mostly due to the new book supplied for Broadway by Charles Busch, who made drastic changes from the original London production.

Other shows have been rumored to return after short lives on Broadway; most recently Parade and Side Show, but to no avail. No specific details were announced about a return to New York for Taboo, beyond the pre-show announcement, but even if a revival is not in the show's near future, its popularity among younger audiences is bound to make it a favorite among college and perhaps even high school productions for years to come.

For Michael Dale's "mad adventures of a straight boy living in a gay world" visit dry2olives.com